Blogging from the Highlands of Scotland until I return to the Murcia region of Spain in the Autumn for a month or so'From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step' - Diderot

Monday, 23 July 2012

Beware of scam calls - "Government Grant Scheme"

I had a telephone call earlier today from what is almost certainly a scam outfit. I was asked initially if I was "William Cameron", I responded querying who was calling. The person (a Scottiah male voice, with a well-spoken Glasgow accent) said he was calling about/from the "Government Grant Scheme". As I invariably do, I then said quite politely "no thanks, goodbye" and hung up. I was in bed at the time, propped up with a laptop on my lap, but only looked at the caller number a little later, after having blocked future calls (I pay for a service called 'choose to refuse') and was a little surprised to see it was listed openly rather than being 'withheld' or from a foreign proxy, as is so often the case with these cold-call scams. In any case the number was a Glasgow number (0141 438 2187) and a quick Google search threw up this, with a number of the links confirming this is indeed a scam outfit.

I think most sensible people can recognise this kind of call for what it is almost immediately, but some more gullible folks or perhaps some elderly folks with poor hearing might be fooled by these con-artists. So this is a warning just to be careful and not to be drawn into a conversation with such people. I am never rude when I hang up, by the way, I always say something like "no thanks, goodbye" and hang up, then block future calls if possible with my 'choose to refuse' access code. Job done!

PS/ Like many others, I subscribe to the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) which theoretically should stop cold-calls, but as has been mentioned recently in the media the rules are being flouted by some less-reputable (and some otherwise seemingly pretty reputable) outfits; 'choose to refuse' is a second line of defence for me which I began to use over 10 years ago.

5 comments:

You see, I got this call about a government grant and this guy told me I qualified. Of course, I knew it was a scam. I'm familiar with grants and financial assistance because I used to work for a financing company. And all grants are basically the same. For you to get them, you should apply and be qualified. You just don't get a call from a stranger telling you you're receiving money when you didn't really do anything at all. Even the complaints posted at http://www.callercenter.com prove that.

Given the nature of the company the grant is probably legitimate, actually - there's a government incentive for purchasing solar panels. However, it's a violation of conditions for them to offer it as an incentive. Get in touch with the DECC and let them know what the company is up to; they'll be blacklisted for future applications, which will effectively ensure they'll never get a sale again.

PS/ I should just add that this article is one of the most read articles I have written in recent times, so I suspect many others must have been contacted by what I continue to regard as a 'scam' outfit; reputable businesses do NOT conduct their activities in this way.

Thanks for your comment and I agree with you. Unfortunately you include a web-link to the company which called you and which you considered to be scam. I am reluctant to provide such people with any publicity, even indirectly, so cannot publish your comment. Actually this kind of thing is covered in the 'terms of use' for my blog (see link near top right).

If you want to re-submit you comment without including this 3rd party web-link, I will happily publish your comment.

Welcome to my comment area. Whilst all comment is welcome you are requested to respect the views of others. To read full terms for use of this facility, please visit my 'Terms of Use' section, linked to under the 'About this Blog' heading at top right of the blog. Note added 12JUL2010 - All comments will now be pre-moderated before they appear in this blog; this is a measure to prevent 'spam' commenting, which has become frequent of late. Thank you.

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